Fun-Key Hughes 500D

Having built Fun-Key's Jet Ranger and AS 350 it was only right that I complete the trio and build a Hughes 500D. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel as I know this build has been done many times before, but I thought you guys may be interested .

My first impression is a nice, lightweight fuselage, of a good size and will have a great presence in the air. However there a few criticisms....
1. The fuselage seems a little weaker in areas, especially when compare to the AS 350.
2. I would have preferred higher skid gear, these look in between low and high skids.
3. The horizontal stabilizer end fins are flimsy,
But it comes with all the hardware and instruction manual to complete the build...all for 120USD, terrific value for money
Looking forward to putting this one together.

Canopy mounting

I first clamped the canopy in place, to ensure it fits square. The wooden mounts are then glued in placeand then 3mm holes are drilled and the canopy pins bonded in place with Gorilla glue.
Rare Earth magnets are then used to hold the canopy in place.

Nice trimming job on the canopy and upper windows. On my next TD body, the upper windows will be filled in to match the originals. Two suggestions that will help and it may be too late for one. Make the tail protector wire just a bit longer if you are not worried about being scale as it barely lets the blades clear with 95mm blades. Add 5 mm if you can as it will help. I used 5 pairs of rare earth magnets to hold the canopy in place as I had a fairly heavy scale interior to keep from falling. They worked just fine and my original intention of putting the magnetic locks on from the AS350 did not need to be done. I will change my plan this time around as I will have the entire thing to do from scratch and have lots of time to get it right. For the landing struts, I was able to drill my own new holes, since I shortened the them for the military length. I also have a very small ratchet wrench that can get into tight places like that with the tips from my Allen key driver set. Keep it up, lookin' good.

Thanks for the tips Don.
I have now put 5 pairs of rare earth magnets on the canopy..this will definitely be enough as it holding really well.
I'm going to lengthen the skids as I want it higher, that way I shouldn't have any clearance issues with the tail rotor blades. I did Google the stinger fitment length before I bonded it in place..hopefully it will be OK
Do you think I should glue the windows in place now and then fill them?

Vertical Fin

Back to a little building..I chopped off 35mm from the tail used a roll of tape for a straight cut
The end result.
The vertical fin is mounted to the tail gearbox via the two bolts and two bushings
To ensure it's drilled straight I used a pillar drill
Bushings nicely in place.
Vertical fin fitted to the gearbox.

HAHAHA, my crashed 500 TD looks just like yours right now, lol. I had to re-enforce the area of the vertical tail where the bushings went through because in the last crash, the tail was turned slightly sideways and rotated just a bit, too. I rebuilt the area with JB Weld and with a coat of paint, looks ready to go. Are you going to go with the Double-Cats head as you did with the AS350? It looks like with a few hours work, you'll be in the air but have you decided what colour scheme you are going to go with? In your first post you mentioned that the gear are too short and I wondered about that when I got mine in. I bet that if you modified your landing struts as I did to strengthen mine, they may well end up being fairly scale in height. When on level ground, the bottom of the body should be 2.75" (70mm) off the ground. Worth a try with the tape measure. You're closer than you think to a maiden flight. Take care.